Why is Everyone Talking About the Humanity Protocol (H)?

While surfing the internet, you may have come across the Humanity Protocol (H) or perhaps noticed a buzz surrounding this project in the crypto and blockchain communities. Wondering why so many people seem to be talking about it? If so, you’re in the right place.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the Humanity Protocol. We’ll examine the project, its intended purpose, and the reasons behind its growing interest and discussion.

What is Humanity Protocol?

Humanity Protocol is a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) layer-2 platform. Built on the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), the protocol focuses on utilizing zero-knowledge proofs to ensure secure and private identity verification.

Simply put, the Humanity Protocol is a decentralized identity verification platform that uses a Proof-of-Humanity protocol. The protocol verifies human identities and data utilizing unique palm biometrics without storing any of the information.

While Worldcoin, a project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, verifies users’ identities through facial and iris scans, Humanity Protocol uses a different approach to identity verification – the palm.

In the Humanity Protocol, nodes or validators known as zkProofers utilize zero-knowledge proofs to securely and privately authenticate and validate human identities. As a reward for their contributions, the zkProofers are rewarded with $H, the native token that fuels the protocol’s operations.

History of Humanity Protocol

As the Web3 industry and blockchain technology continue to advance at a rapid pace, there is also an increase in bots masquerading as humans, as well as the threat of sybil attacks.

For context, a Sybil attack is a scenario in which an entity creates and controls multiple fake identities or nodes, with the intention of manipulating or disrupting the system’s operations. The malicious actor can gain unauthorized access to the system, stealing sensitive information or funds.

This problem, therefore, compromises the integrity and security of decentralized systems. Hence, there is a need for an efficient verification process.

To combat this issue, Terence Kwok, a tech entrepreneur, founded Humanity Protocol through the Human Institute in 2023. To launch, the project collaborated with Yat Siu, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, and Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon Labs.

After its creation, the project operated in stealth mode, keeping its activities, products, and services out of the public eye and from competitors. This continued until a year later, Humanity Protocol decided to go public.

On May 15, 2024, Humanity Protocol became a unicorn after reaching a private valuation of $1 billion through a $30 million seed round. Kingsway Capital led the funding round. Others who participated in the funding round included Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com, Hashed, Shima Capital, and 20 others.

Following this achievement, the Proof-of-Humanity project announced that it will roll out its testnet in three stages: human ID reservation, pre-enrollment via the app, and full enrollment via palm vein verification.

The project commenced with Phase 1 on September 30, 2024, which is now live. The first testnet experienced rapid adoption, with almost 150,000 participants joining within the first week. In May, the platform announced the launch of the second stage, Testnet Beta, with the third phase still to come.

Earlier this year, the project conducted another funding round, propelling its valuation to $1.1 billion. The round, co-led by Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto, raised about $20 million.

Key Features of Humanity Protocol

Here are the selling points of the Humanity Protocol:

Advanced Biometric Technology

Humanity Protocol utilizes a Proof-of-Human mechanism, which requires users to provide their biometric information through palm recognition technology for verification. This method, accessible via smartphones or specialized devices, prevents Sybil attacks, making it difficult for malicious actors to create bot accounts and duplicate identities.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)

This feature ensures that the protocol verifies identities without requiring users to reveal their sensitive personal information, such as name, age, or location.

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

This key feature empowers users to have full control over their digital identities and personal data. They can decide who and when to share those credentials, ensuring trust and control.

Scalability

This allows large-scale adoption and seamless interaction across multiple blockchain networks and platforms.

Decentralized Infrastructure

Humanity Protocol is built on a zkEVM Layer-2 blockchain, ensuring that no central authority censors or manipulates its operations. Instead, validators and zkProofers verify and validate credentials, after which they are rewarded with $H.

Humanity Protocol Token (H)

H or $H is the native token of the Humanity Protocol. While the protocol has another token called Dream Play Token (DPLY), H is its primary token.

The H token, an ERC-20 token, fuels the entire network, rewards zkProofers, identity validators, and developers, and facilitates transactions on the platform. Verified users can earn and utilize these tokens to engage in key activities such as voting on protocol governance and interacting with ecosystem applications.

On June 25, 2025, the platform announced the launch of the H token for trading on exchanges such as Binance, ByBit, Bitget, Gate.io, MEXC, Coinone, and Kucoin. Launched with a fixed supply of 10 billion tokens, H is currently selling at $0.04 according to data on CoinGecko.

What is Fairdrop?

To address the issue of bots targeting airdrops, which leads to unfair distribution associated with traditional airdrops, Humanity Protocol has launched the Fairdrop —a type of airdrop that the platform claims is a first in the Web3 space.

Fairdrop was designed to ensure even distribution with only verified humans participating. It was scheduled to launch starting from June 25, 2025. According to the platform, the Fairdrop initiative recognizes and rewards individuals who have contributed to building the Humanity community. They include real users, Kaito stakers, active Discord members, and developers, all of whose identities have been verified on-chain and are not associated with random wallets.

Was the Distribution Really Fair? Arising Controversies

Humanity Protocol’s Fairdrop aimed to exclude bots and reward only humans, but ongoing controversies suggest the initiative may have fallen short. A few days after the token’s launch, it fell by over 61% after an alleged leaked conversation between founder Terrance Kwok and a pseudonymous content creator, Zun, surfaced in a tweet.

According to the tweet, up to 88% of the network’s users may be bots, not real people. The tweet also alleged that Kwok admitted that out of nine million human IDs created, only around a million may be verified humans, casting doubt on the project’s claims and the fairness of its token distribution.

Users on X have also condemned the project, calling it a scam.

Conclusion

Humanity Protocol aims to ensure proper verification of identities without compromising on security or control. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the project’s plans to achieve its goals through a three-phase test-net approach. Phase 1 is live already, Phase 2 is still rolling out in batches, and Phase 3 is upcoming.

However, with the launch of the protocol’s native token marred by the ongoing controversies, only time will tell how the project will perform going forward.

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